Stung taxi operators mull shifting to TN over taxes
Taxi operators will be protesting the imposition of life-time taxes on luxury taxis at MS Building on April 3 followed by a protest at Vidhana Soudha in which around 2,000 taxi operators will participate.
Sources said that if the state government failed to meet the demands of taxi operators, many of them would have no other option but to move their businesses to Tamil Nadu.
“It is unfortunate that taxi operators did not get any benefits from the recent state Budget and the industry was burdened with life-time taxes at the rate of 15 per cent of the cost of a vehicle priced above Rs 10 lakh.
The brunt of changes in the Motor Vehicle Taxes has to be borne by the luxury cab operators. They are the main contributors to the state exchequer and GDP and this is how they are being treated,” said President of All India Motor Transport Congress, Mr G.R. Shanmugappa.
“We don’t buy luxury vehicles for self-use and we don’t run the vehicles for more than five years as they become old. We have to induct new and latest vehicles to our fleet because of competition. Hence it’s not worth it to impose life-time taxes on luxury cabs,” added General Secretary of Bangalore Tourist Taxi Operators Association Mr K. Radhakrishna Holla.
Karnataka is the only state in the country to impose a life-time tax as high as 15 per cent. In other states, the tax is 6 per cent or below.
“If the government fails to reduce life-time taxes, we will be forced to shift operations to neighbouring states and will surrender our vehicle documents to the state government,” said Mr Holla.
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